Resistance

Chapter 7 - Luna Lost

Neville lay on the compartment floor, struggling against his invisible bonds. Luna was gone from view, carried away down the train by the Death Eaters. Half a minute later, he felt the spell on him break and he surged forwards, crashing over Ginny's unconscious body and into the compartment window with a crunch of breaking glass. He rushed into the corridor, praying Luna would still be there.

The corridor was empty and the external door at the end of the carriage was open, swinging on its hinges. He ran for it, blind to the frightened students he passed, and threw himself out of the door without a thought for the drop. He hit the ground very hard and was winded for a moment. Unable to get up, he looked around desperately. The train was standing in the middle of an empty moor, tangled gorse and heather stretching out on all sides to rounded hills. There was no sign of Luna or the Death Eaters

'LUNA!' he shouted as loudly as he could. 'LUNA!' His voice echoed back off the hills, a mocking ghost. He could feel the tears running down his cheeks. He remained on his knees, shoulders shaking, eyes still desperately searching the empty moors. This couldn't be happening. He had to be able to fight, there had to be a second chance. It couldn't be over. She couldn't be gone.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, someone saying his name. Silently he stood with Seamus and walked back to the train. He could see white terrified faces lining the windows, staring out at him. Lavender and Parvati were at the open door and helped him and Seamus back onto the train.

'Ginny,' he said, remembering his friend, and hurried back along the corridor, ignoring the staring audience from both ends of the train.

As he re-entered the compartment, he felt the Hogwarts Express rumble and lurch. As they began to move away from the spot Luna had been taken, he experienced an irrational urge to throw himself off, to remain where she'd gone as though she would somehow reappear there. He pushed it down; he had to stay calm for the sake of all the students watching. They couldn't see him, Neville Longbottom, interim leader of Dumbledore's Army, crumbling and giving in to despair.

Ginny was laying where she'd fallen on the carriage floor. He brushed the red hair away from her chalky pale face and checked her pulse. Taking a deep breath he pressed his wand to her temple and whispered, 'Ennervate!' Almost immediately Ginny stirred and her eyes opened. She gave a sharp intake of breath and tried to sit up.

'Luna!' she gasped, looking around and freezing when she saw Neville's face.

'They took her,' he said grimly. 'I couldn't stop them, I'm sorry Ginny.'

She made a small squeaky noise and shut her eyes. Eventually she opened them and looked back at him. 'I was so horrible to her,' she said in a weak voice.

'Yes, and then you risked your own life to try and protect her,' he reminded her strongly.

'They... they'll kill her, won't they?' she said, her lips shaking.

He took her hand and squeezed it tightly. 'They didn't kill her outright, that might be a good sign,' he tried to reassure her. He could hear how unconvincing his voice sounded. For a moment they viewed each other, then Ginny gave a sob and they were holding each other tightly, Ginny crying hard. Behind them, he could see the anxious faces of the rest of Dumbledore's Army at the entrance to the compartment. Several of the girls were also crying and the boys had unusually bright eyes. Neville closed his own eyes to block them, unable to cope with the enormity of the situation.

After a few minutes he felt Ginny's sobs grow weaker. After the blankness of shock, he began to find normal emotions creeping back in. He was aware of the dampness of the shoulders of his robes where Ginny's tears had soaked through, and of the pins and needles in his feet from kneeling too long. He felt Ginny's body under his hands and the awkwardness of touching her. He realised his nose was running and he had no hand free to wipe it. A great weariness came over him and threatened to overwhelm him.

Ginny pulled back, her face messy from tears and exertion. She found a handkerchief in her robes pocket and rubbed ineffectually at her eyes. 'I don't know what to do, Nev,' she said softly. 'I don't know how I can keep going. We've got to rescue her!'

He rubbed her back clumsily. 'Gin, we can't. She could be anywhere. There's nothing we can do.' He felt the tears building up behind his eyes again.

'So we're meant to just leave her? Give up on her?' Ginny climbed to her feet, glaring at him.

'No, we never give up on her!' he replied hotly, also scrambling up with the aid of a seat. 'We always remember her, and think of her, and love her. But we can't go after her, Gin. It's not possible. You know it's not possible.'

'Harry would have tried!' she threw back.

'Harry wouldn't have known where to start, any more than we do!' he retorted. 'Don't think it's out of cowardice, Gin, because if I could just die right now in order to bring her back, I would. But we can't go running off round the country trying to find her - we simply don't have the means to do it. All we can do is keep going as we have been, keep the spirit of the resistance alive in Hogwarts.'

She sat down suddenly, slumping. 'None of it seems worth it now.'

'I know, Gin,' he agreed, sinking down into the seat opposite her. 'I know.'

There was a tentative knock at the door and Seamus entered, holding a bottle of butterbeer. He was unable to meet their eyes. 'I thought you might like some of this,' he said, proffering the bottle to Ginny. 'For the shock and all.'

After a pause, she looked up and took the bottle tentatively. 'Um, thanks, Seamus,' she said finally, taking a small sip. She closed her eyes whilst the liquid worked its way down, and then took another, bigger sip. 'That does help,' she said after a moment. 'Here, you have some, Neville.'

He didn't feel much like drinking or eating, but Ginny was right, the butterbeer did help a bit. 'Thanks,' he said to Seamus, who was hovering anxiously.

'What do we do now, Nev?' Ginny asked the question in an unusually small voice, watching Neville intently. He felt Seamus' eyes also on him.

He took a deep breath, suddenly aware again of the great burden of being a leader. He knew he was still shaking like a leaf. He tried to pull his thoughts together. 'We carry on,' he said, in a voice that sounded too weak, too small even to him. 'We have to carry on,' he said again, more strongly this time. He took another swig of butterbeer to help him. 'We can't bring Luna back, but we can carry on fighting. Just like Harry kept fighting after Cedric died, after Sirirus died. Just like we started up the DA when Umbridge was in charge, and just like we brought it back despite Snape and the Carrows. We can't stop bad things happening, but we can do as much as possible to fight back.'

Both Ginny and Seamus were staring at him now, odd expressions on their faces. He couldn't tell if they were frightened, or disbelieving, or impressed. He realised he didn't care. He continued, 'We can't let the kids on this train go home thinking Dumbledore's Army has been defeated. We can't let them spend the break getting more and more scared and deciding they won't come back in the new year. So I suggest we carry on as we planned.'

Ginny blinked, and then nodded. 'You're right, Nev.' She stood up. 'I'm going to clean myself up a bit, I won't be long.' She picked up her bag and slipped out of the compartment.

Once Ginny had left, Neville turned to Seamus. 'Thanks, mate, for... well, you know.' Seamus inclined his head slightly. Neville put down the butterbeer and looked around. 'Where are the rest of the DA?'

'Some prefects came along and sent everyone back to their compartments. They're all pretty shaken up - everyone is.' Seamus stared at him. 'What do you want us to do, Nev?'

The rawness of Luna's loss prevented the usual panic he'd feel. 'We carry on, like I said. The sweets stunt, we go ahead like we planned. Michael and Anthony know the spells.'

Seams hesitated. 'You don't think it looks... callous?' he asked.

Part of Neville wanted to agree. But he found himself overriding it and saying confidently, 'No. We can't afford to just crumble. Believe me mate, I want to. But we can't. If we give up now, how are we going to come back in January? How can we keep going at all?' He rose to his feet. 'Please can you go and gather up as many of the DA as you can, get them together in a carriage and tell them I'll be along in a few minutes?'

For a moment he thought Seamus would argue, but then his friend simply nodded and moved off to do his bidding.

As Seamus left, Ginny returned, looking much better. She had put on make-up, though her eyes were still red and puffy. Neville realised he felt more worried about Ginny than he did about himself, and oddly that made him feel more confident. He knew he'd have to make a speech in just a few minutes, but the usual sense of dread was absent. He knew what he needed to do and why he needed to do it.

He led the way down to where Seamus had gathered most of the DA together. They looked jumpy and scared, and many of them had been crying. Lavender Brown was still sniffing dramatically into an overly lacy handkerchief. There was no space left in the compartment, so he addressed them from the corridor, through the door.

'I'm sure you all know that half an hour ago, Luna was taken off the train by Death Eaters,' he began. A whisper went around the group, even though they had all watched Luna being dragged away, or at least Neville's failed rescue attempt. 'Obviously this is a great loss to us all. Luna is an incredible witch whose ability to see the world in a different way has added so much to our movement. Let's all be quiet for a moment to remember her.'

He noticed Ginny shoot him an admiring look. The idea for the silence had come from the Potterwatch broadcasts. After he felt a decent time had passed and could hear a couple of people shuffling their feet and suppressing coughs, he continued. 'Luna was dedicated to Dumbledore's Army and she would want our work to go on, even though I know that none of us feel like it at the moment. So we must carry on with our plan, as we intended.'

A murmur ran through the DA, but no one openly disagreed. After a moment Michael Corner said, 'OK, Neville. The spells are pretty much ready, we just need you to get the stuff.'

'Right.' Neville turned on his heel and headed off down the train. He found the witch with the trolley drinking tea in the small compartment closest to the engine, along with the guard, drinking tea. She jumped up when he knocked and entered, saying, 'Not more trouble?' Neville quickly reassured her everything was fine, he just wanted to buy some sweets. When he handed over his Galleons her eyes widened. 'But this is enough for the whole train!' she exclaimed. Neville shrugged and said he had the whole Christmas holiday to get through. Perhaps seeing his naturally rounded figure, the witch questioned him no further.

As he made his way back down the train, he counted the number of occupied compartments. Back with the DA, they went about dividing Neville's purchases up into that number of piles. Anthony Goldstein, whose skill in Charms had come second only to Hermione's, was carefully placing the spells created by the DA around each.

When they were ready, everyone stood together, wands raised. 'For Luna,' said Neville solemnly. Everyone echoed, 'For Luna!'

Moments later, every compartment in the train erupted in sparkling gold stars. At first the students screamed, then they laughed and clapped as they realised it was harmless. In the centre of each compartment the words 'On behalf of Harry Potter, Dumbledore's Army wishes all Hogwarts students a safe and peaceful Christmas!' Through the starry air, sweets rained down.

The mood on the train was changed completely, with students excitedly discussing whether Harry Potter had actually passed the message on. Soon several students were swearing they'd seen Harry in person delivering the sweets. Neville watched his fellow students and felt a mixture of relief that the trick had worked, and disappointment that they were prepared to forget so easily. Ginny clearly felt the same. 'How can they be so happy about a few stupid sweets when Luna's just been kidnapped in front of them?' she whispered.

Neville squeezed her arm. 'People like to hide from bad stuff, Gin. They want to be distracted. It's not because they don't care, they're hurting inside. But people don't want to face reality. If someone offers them a nice sanitised version, they'll take that. Why d'you reckon the Prophet still has such a big readership?'

She leant against him for a moment. 'I don't know I'd do without you, Nev. Don't leave me, please don't leave me too.'

'I'm not going anywhere,' he replied softly, praying that he would have a choice in the matter.

With the DA dispersed back to their separate compartments and doing their best to look innocent, Neville and Ginny were left alone for the rest of the journey. Neville left the compartment only once more, to visit the bathroom. On the way back, he passed Draco Malfoy, who was skulking in the corridor looking resentful. 'Where are you going, Longbottom?' he asked, sticking out his wand arm.

'Back to my compartment,' replied Neville evenly.

'Where have you been?' snapped Malfoy.

'To the toilet. I assume that is still permitted?' He went to step around Malfoy, but the other boy moved to block him.

'Better than peeing in your pants like normal,' said Malfoy, but it sounded flat and puerile. 'I know you're behind those stupid spells. Pretty sad that Dumbledore's Army has resorted to bribery now.'

Neville laughed softly. 'Come on Malfoy, you know I'm hopeless at complex spells. I'm surprised you'd credit me with something like that. And maybe students deserve a treat. Of course, if your compartment is that offended, I'm sure Dumbledore's Army would happily take the sweets back.'

Malfoy didn't answer and Neville felt a flush of triumph. Of course, Crabbe and Goyle would have gobbled the lot even before the golden writing had faded - they'd have accepted sweets from Voldemort himself. Malfoy continued, 'I always knew you were stupid, Longbottom, but this obsession with Harry Potter is sadder than I'd have expected even from you.'

'I'm not obsessed, Malfoy, it's called being a good friend. Not that you'd know much about that.'

Draco smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. There was something tired and mechanical about his taunting. 'Anyone with two brain cells to rub together would know that Potter is dead, or if he isn't, he will be soon. Don't you know when you're beaten? Give it up, Longbottom, before it's too late.'

'I'll never give up, Draco. No matter what.' He looked Malfoy full in the face. He realised that once he'd been scared of this pale Slytherin, but now he felt nothing but contempt.

'Then you're a fool. Potter cannot defeat the Dark Lord. I have seen what he is capable of. No one can stand up to him and survive.' Malfoy looked so haunted as he said this, that a shiver went down Neville's spine. 'You're a pureblood. If you got your head down and kept quiet you'd survive all this.'

Neville shook his head slowly. 'I might live, yes, but I'd rather be dead than betray my friends. Than stand by and watch wizards killing Muggles and persecuting Muggle-borns and other magical creatures. If you call that survival, I don't want to survive.'

Malfoy stepped back as though he'd been slapped. 'You'll deserve all you get then,' he spat, and turned on his heel and stormed away down the corridor.

Watching him go, Neville wondered for a moment if Malfoy had genuinely been trying to warn him. One pureblood to another. He thought of the dark shadows under Malfoy's eyes, the gauntness where he'd clearly lost weight, the way he hung back in class. For someone who was supposedly on the winning side, Malfoy looked an awful lot like someone who'd been defeated.

Back in his compartment he sat down next to Ginny, who was staring blankly out of the window. Luna's absence stretched between them, and without her odd, cheerful presence he found he wasn't sure what to say to Ginny. Something caught his eye and he bent to pick it up. It was the copy of the Quibbler that Luna had been reading when the Death Eaters burst in.

He caught Ginny looking at him, and met her eyes. For a moment they just looked at each other, then he put his arms around her and they sat huddled together for the remainder of the journey.

Platform Nine and Three Quarters had never seemed so grey and bleak. Large numbers of Ministry enforcers were standing around amongst the parents, many of whom looked tired and haggard and very relieved that the train had arrived. Neville and Ginny fetched Luna's trunk as well as their own things - Crookshanks hissing furiously within his box - and emerged from the train onto the steam filled platform.

Neville left Ginny to her mother's all-encompassing hug. His Gran was easily identifiable, her favourite vulture-topped hat standing out above the crowd. He took Luna's trunk as well as his own and made his way quickly over to her and hugged her before she could say a word. 'Hi Gran, it's good to see you. I'm just going to leave my trunk with you, there's something I need to do first.'

Before she could say another word he had moved back to where he could see a lone figure wearing a wide brimmed hat with what appeared to be a plant growing out of it. Xenophilius Lovegood was craning over the heads of the crowds, trying to see Luna. Neville felt a cold knot of dread in his stomach as he walked over, Luna's trunk levitating neatly behind him.

'Mr Lovegood?' he asked politely as he reached the man.

'Yes?' he responded vaguely, still looking past Neville, searching increasingly anxiously for his daughter in the throng of people.

'Mr Lovegood, my name is Neville Longbottom, I'm one of Luna's friends,' he began. Suddenly the older man was looking directly at him, giving his full attention. His face had frozen. 'I'm very sorry, sir, but Luna was taken from the train.'

'No!' moaned Lovegood, before Neville could even finish his sentence. He sat down suddenly and Neville barely pushed Luna's trunk under him in time. Luna's father slumped, his face twisted with agony.

'I am so sorry, sir. Luna is a very brave and good person, she fought Snape and the Carrows all term and helped the younger students.' He felt tears in his eyes but he blinked them away. It was not his moment for grief.

'It's my fault, all my fault!' wailed Mr Lovegood, gripping his daughter's trunk as though she might somehow be inside. 'They've been pressurising me for weeks, making threats - they don't like what I'm writing in the Quibbler. But I never thought they'd attack Luna, not at Hogwarts. I thought she was safe!'

Ginny and her parents were approaching. He could see from Mrs Weasley's white face that Ginny had told them what had happened. She took Mr Lovegood by the shoulder. 'I'm so sorry, Xenophilius. Come on, let's get you out of here. You can come back to the Burrow with us.'

Neville caught Ginny's eye and stepped aside to speak to her. 'He says it's because of what he's writing in the Quibbler,' he told her in a low voice.

To his surprise, Ginny brightened up. 'That's great - if that's true, they'll have to keep Luna alive!'

'Really?' He wondered if Ginny was losing it.

'Yes; if they've kidnapped Luna to make her Dad toe the line, they can't kill her. Once they've done that there's no incentive for him to do as they say!' She stopped and caught his eye, both of them realising at the same time how tragic it was to be pleased with news that a friend was merely being held captive by cruel murderers.

'You'll take care, won't you?' Neville asked softly. 'Stay on guard, keep your wand with you all the time.'

Ginny nodded. 'You too.'

'And if any of our mutual friends show up for Christmas, give them my best.' Neville suddenly remembered something and groped in his pocket, transferring Trevor to the other side. He pulled out a small box wrapped in brightly coloured paper. 'I nearly forgot - here. Happy Christmas.' It was hard to say without sounding ironic.

'Oh Neville!' Ginny took the gift looking surprised. 'I'm sorry, I never even...'

He grinned at her. 'Just say Happy Christmas back, and come back next term. That's the best present you could give me.'

She hugged him tightly. 'I'll Owl you,' she promised. 'We won't be able to say much, but it would be good to keep in touch.'

'Ginny, come along.' Mrs Weasley was steering a blank faced Xenophilus towards the barrier. Ginny smiled sadly at Neville again, and followed her mother.

'Have you finished?' His Gran was standing beside him, holding his trunk and Trevor, who had apparently escaped his pocket.

'Sorry Gran, I had to... speak to Mr Lovegood,' he said quietly.

'I heard. You showed a lot of backbone, doing that. Your father would have done the same thing.' Neville blushed with pleasure at those words. Augusta Longbottom continued, 'And was that young lady...'

'She's just a friend,' said Neville hastily, retrieving Trevor and moving his trunk onto an abandoned trolley.

'There's no 'just' when it comes to friendship, Neville,' his grandmother reminded him, turning to leave the station.

Neville went to follow her, but before he crossed the barrier he looked back at the platform. For a second he almost imagined he could see Luna, standing next to her trunk, holding the Quibbler. But when he blinked there was nothing there but the swirling steam.